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Frank Bell discusses how he learned to stop worrying and love the vim

The vim editor is based on the venerable vi editor, which dates from the very
early days of Unix. Many persons find it intimidating for the absence of a
menu bar, a terse command set that is very much its own, and its "modal"
design.

Nevertheless, under its plain surface is a powerful and versatile tool. Frank
Bell describes his five steps to learning to use and love vim.

Use a .vimrc file.

Train yourself to change modes.

Learn and use a few basic commands. These should be enough to get you
going: x, dd, dw (to delete text); cw (change a work); yy ("yank" or copy a
line); p and P (to paste text); u (undo); w ("write") or save text; q (quit vim).

Don't force yourself to move the cursor with the h-j-k-l keys if that doesn't feel natural.
Use the arrow keys.

I have received a very generous offer from Bernard J. Poole, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He has a series of LibreOffice Tutorials and has asked me to publicize that they are available free of charge to all of our LibreOffice fans on Hacker Public Radio. You can find his tutorials on his web site at http://www.pitt.edu/~poole/. He is particularly aiming his tutorials at educators who might use LibreOffice in the classroom

Full Notes

I usually create my notes with Markdown and pandoc. As an experiment this time I have used a pandoc template which uses the same CSS that provides the style for the main HPR pages. I hope it makes these notes look better than the very bare HTML I have produced in the past.

A follow-up to ep. 1512, I reflect on what I've learned digitizing two Counterpoint textbooks.

I mistakenly referred to episode 1516 while I was speaking. I meant to say 1512. The two musical bumpers I used in the show are by J.S. Bach, examples 90 and 91 in the textbook "Applied Counterpoint," by Percy Goetschius. These are my own MIDI renditions so they have no copyright burden upon them.

I put brand new parts into an old fujitsu lifebook 4215

In July of 2010 I was given a laptop to repair by one of my friends, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it despite hours of trial and error so eventually I got so frustrated with it that I just set it aside and forgot about for a while. Meanwhile my friend got another laptop so he told me I could keep it.

Fifty One Fity revisits an Air Capitol brewpub to try some new flavors

The great thing about brew pubs is that they always trying new beers so the customer experience doesnt become as stale asa half finished can of Budweiser let out overnight. That means I can return to the same place and experience a whole new vista of flavors. Such was the case last Sunday, when a social affair brought me withing blocks of the River City Brewing Company in Wichita Kansas. I had the forethought to be my three growlers for refilling, and by the time the meeting was of it was time for a burger and a beer anyway. Lets talk about the meal first.

Having already tried their pizza and amazing Cuban sandwich on previous trips, this time a went for a burger. From the River City menu ( http://www.rivercitybrewingco.com/rcbmenu.pdf ) The Memphis Burger is topped with sweet pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, crispy onion strings and chipotle BBQ sauce. On top of all that, the hamburger was grilled to perfection, in my case that being exceedingly rare. (One of my Dads friends, every time he sees me eating a steak or a burger, always comments You know, Ive seen a critter hurt worse that that and live). I was most impressed by the onion strings. These are not the French fried onion rings that you find atop your green beans on Thanksgiving, but rather the most delicate strings of onion imaginable, battered and fried. I found myself wishing Id thought to order extra BBQ sauce for my French fries, which were hearty and sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper. Id never thought of peppering my fries before, but be assured Ill do so in the future.

To accompany my burger, I selected the Breckenridge Bourbon Smoked Imperial Stout. It weighs in at 9.0%abv, so you get a smaller that average portion in an 11oz brandy snifter. While stouts are usually nearly as bitter as IPAs, I dont notice it as much when coupled with the beers bold flavor. Unlike IPAs, stouts tend to have enough malty richness to add balance. In the case of this beer, the barley is smoked over hazelnuts before fermentation, giving this beer its flavor and its name. Ive want to try a smoked stout since I heard Tracy Hotlz speak of them back on the old Podbrewers show. I dont think Id want to be restricted to an exclusive diet of smoked beers, but this was a welcome change from the ordinary, and a great compliment to my beefy repast. Truly an excellent brew.

Now, on to the contents of my three growlers. I wish I could give you first impressions, but come on, I just couldnt wait for you folks. It was hard enough to wait for the containers to chill overnight in the fridge.

The first beer is even more unique than the smoked stout. Donut Whole Love Affair #3 Pineapple Wit is made with actual pineapple donuts (from River Citys Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RiverCityBreweryCo/photos/a.555320064516059.1073741826.194563133925089/796375363743860/?type=1 ). The first taste you encounter is tart pineapple on the tip of your tongue joined by powdered sugar as the beer washes towards the back of you mouth. The sugar taste tends to stay with you between sips, but the whole effect is subtle and wonderful, not fruit juicy like a shandy. The wheat beer hovers in the background, not enough to obscure the donut, but blending the pastry taste into the breadyness of the beer. I didnt know what to expect of this beer when I ordered it, but I am most pleased I did. 5.65abv 11 IBUs 16oz Weizen

Next, we have Pryze Fyter Red Rye. By far, this is the smoothest and richest rye beer Ive ever tasted. Im a big fan of rye beers, but they tend to be a little more harsh than wheat beers, and are of course more bitter. Like rye whiskey, rye beer is an acquired taste for many people, and best suited for those with a palette that craves bold flavors. According to the menu, Carmel malts, a copious amount of rye. Spicy, floral, earthy, and ready to smack you in the kisser. 5.6%abv 55 IBUs 16oz Nonic

Finally, we have the Buffeit Bourbon Baltic Porter. Of the two bourbon barrel aged porters on the menu, my barman described this slightly sweeter. While Ive never been a fan of the woody tasting bourbons of Tennessee, barrel aging lends a roundness to beers, and compliments the roasted malts and the hops. This is the strongest of the beers I brought home, at 7.2%abv, 47IBUs, and would be served in a 13z Tulip glass.

I made the mistake of not taking a beer menu home with me for documentation, as a list of currently available beers no longer appears on line. Chris Arnold took the time to scan a copy and send it to my e-mail. Thanks Chris. I dont think River City Brewing Company will mind me attaching the menu to my notes for you listeners to salivate over. There are two in particular Im sorry to have missed, the Stinky Pete Plum Saison (they always seems to be out of the raisin and plum beers) and the Emerald City Stout (a man has only so many growlers).

That brings me to my next topic. Among the many interviews I want to do from Linux Fest next week, Im also going to visit the Free State Brewery, only a couple blocks away. I called ahead, and they wont fill other pubs growlers (thats going to cost you some points Free State). On the upside, Ill have a couple new growlers to add to my collection.

David Whitman builds a safety heat shield for a wood stove in his shop

The Problem: Wood stoves get really hot
The solution: metal heat shield and airspace
I describe how I used common materials and self designed a wood stove heat Shield.
Hopefully there are pictures attached to this episode show notes so you can see just how well I described my project

Fin talks about his favourite browser extensions.

NoScript is great for blocking JavaScript that may be undesirable. Scripts tend to track users or load obtrusive or undesirable content in my experience.
NoScript also blocks Adobe Flash and Java which can be resource hogs. A simple click will activate them. Scripts can be enabled or disabled by site.

HTTPS Everywhere will automatically direct your browser to a secure https version of sites you visit, if available. Great for security (obviously).

Adblock Edge is a great ad blocker. It blocks all ads no matter how obtrusive they are. Does not contain hidden white-list like more popular ad blocker: Adblock Plus.

LibreJS targets non free JavaScript. I think it is a fantastic idea but makes too many sites unusable. I prefer NoScript as I can more easily micro-manage scripts per domain.